I had an initial meeting with a new client an owner of a ecommerce business last week and I said, “You know it’s a bit like the sketch Trigger’s Broom”.
“Who’s Trigger she asked” …
Unfortunately, the lady in question was probably still in primary school in 1996 and had barely heard of Only Fools and Horses so I had tried another tack….
How about the Ship of Theseus? the Ship of What? she replied…
I realised it is sometimes easier just to explain what you’re talking about rather expecting people to be an Only Fools and Horses fans or familiar with ancient philosophy specifically metaphysics…
So, to recap, the character Trigger makes a bold claim that he’s had his road sweeper’s broom for 20 years. But then goes on to add that the broom has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles. The sketch poses a question regarding how the identity of an object might change as it undergoes change combined with a passage of time.
So back to reality the company in question were dealing with an enquiry about how to best market a rather expensive 1970’s Bang & Olufsen ‘original’ record player with the seller freely admitting the player had very few of its original parts much like Trigger’s Broom!
This led to a more detailed discussion about the company’s product safety obligations when products were new, second hand, reconditioned etc and whether they were selling direct or via an on-line platform. This lead in turn to a conversation about to how to describe these groups of products best legally.
Exhausted the client said, “I’ve got more chance of understanding the Ship of Theseus than getting my head around all that” ….
I nearly asked if they had plans to sell in Europe but I decided to leave this subject to our next call…
If you need a ‘new broom’ don’t be shy get in touch……
